


What if

by Elia19



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 06:18:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7563562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elia19/pseuds/Elia19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Snow White and Charming, instead of a daughter, had a son? How would everything unfold?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Well... Another day of my life went by as planned," thought a man, walking through the front door of his small Boston flat.

He was tall. His lean swimmer frame was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt underneath. His golden blond hair were sleeked back and his sea-green eyes tiredly looked over the room. His name was Emmet Anthony Swan. Everyone called Tony.

At this moment all he wanted to do was get out of his clothes and jump into his comfortable bed. But firstly he had something to do. After all, it was a yearly tradition.

With a cupcake on the table and a lit candle in it, Tony only had to make a wish.

"Happy 28th Birthday to me," he smirked and blew out the candle. "And may I never be alone on this day ever again."

Suddenly, a sound of someone knocking on the door was heard.

'I wonder who might that be,' mused Tony, but nonetheless took his gun out. He made a bunch of enemies throughout his years as a cop as well as bail-bonds person, and he really doubted that someone would visit him at this hour just to have chat.

'Heh... Paranoia, after all, is taking its tall on me.' with that thought in mind he looked through the peephole and...

And saw no one.

This made him only more wary.

The knock sounded again.

This time Tony reacted immediately.

He threw open the door; his gun ready to shoot anyone who dared to attack him.

"Ahh!" a frightened shout came from the mouth of a small boy, standing on his porch.

"Who are you and what are you doing here, kid?" asked Tony, still not putting his gun away. After all, it might be a trap.

"Are... are you Emmet Swan?" boy's eyes were still full of fear at the sight of the gun trained at him, but at the same time Tony saw something completely different in them. Excitement, maybe?

"I'm asking questions here, kiddo, and you'd better answer them," said Tony with a stern mask on his face. But on the inside he was kind of amused.

"I'm Henry Mills and I'm looking for Emmet Swan. Is that you?" answered kid, squaring his shoulder as if trying to look more serious and get rid of the understandable fear.

"And what if I am?" Tony looked at the boy with suspicion clear in his eyes.

"I'm the son, he gave away for adoption ten years ago," Henry threw back at his newly-found daddy.

"Wow..." Tony was rendered speechless and took a closer look at the boy.

He had wavy well-trimmed brown hair, bright hazel eyes and a slightly crooked nose that clearly were hers, but you could definitely see that his facial structure boy without a doubt got from his father. Even all this baby fat couldn't cover it.

The boy was tall enough for his age, had good clothes on and from the looks of it was well-fed and cared of. So what would he need with the father, who abandoned him so many years ago?

"Ok, come on in, kid. No need to talk on the porch," Tony let the kid into the house, looked down the hallway, checking for anything suspicious, closed the door and only then put away his gun.

Upon entering the kitchen Tony noticed Henry comfortably sitting on the bar stool and looking around with curious eyes.

"Do you want something to eat?" Tony asked walking straight to the fridge and openning it.

"No. I'm good," Answered Henry with a wide smile. It was a little unnerving for Tony. Ok, not a little. Full-on unnerving. "But you know, we should probably get going."

"Where are we going?" Tony was still going through the contents of his fridge and didn't pay much attention to the boy.

"I want you to come home with me," answered Henry as if it was obvious.

This phrase got Tony's full attention. He closed the fridge, turned to the boy, then put his hands on the counter between them and looked Henry in the eyes.

"Listen to me carefully, Henry. I'm not going with you anywhere and your parents must be worried sick by now. So now you will give me their phone number and I'll call them, so they can come and get you," he stretched out his hand, but was met with silence. "Or I can call the cops."

"It's just me and mom and I don't have her number," said Henry, looking at everything, but Tony. "And if you call cops, I'll tell them you kidnapped me and..."

"And they'll believe you, because I'm your biological father," Tony smirked.

'Hmm... That's smart, really smart, kiddo.'

"Yep," a huge shit-eating smile appeared on Henry's face.

'What a witty little... Must be genes.' thought Tony and started walking around the counter.

"It's true, kid, but you are missing one thing," now Tony stood right in front of the boy and crouched to be on one eye-level with him. "I have this skill, you may call it superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying to me and you are. You are definitely bluffing. So who should I call? Your mom or cops? You decide..."

Henry stubbornly looked at his father without muttering a word.

After a couple of minutes of staring at each other, Tony straightened up and went for his phone. "Cops it is..."

"Wait!" Henry jumped from the bar stool and looked at Tony with his well-practiced puppy dog eyes. "Please, don't call anyone. Just, just drive me home."

Tony wanted to get rid of the boy as soon as possible and just go to bed and forget this ever happened, but some nagging voice inside his tired mind told him to help the boy. 'Ahhh, to hell with that...'

"Where is home?"

"Storybrooke, Main," seriously answered Henry.

"Storybrooke?" a small laugh made its way out of Tony. 'It's getting more ridiculous with every passing second.'

"Mhmm."

"Ok, kid. I'll make you a deal: I'll get you to Storybrooke," he scoffed at the name. "And you'll tell me why you tried to find me at the first place. We have a deal?" Tony crouched a bit and offered his hand to Henry for a shake.

"Deal," beamed Henry and took his father's hand.

"Great. Let's get you to Storybrooke," Tony smiled and put his hand on Henry's shoulder, leading him out of the flat.

* * *

 

"Ok, kid, you can start telling me everything right about now," Tony said.

They just left the townline and the silence was already killing the owner of the car. Henry on the other hand was just staring through the window without a care in the world and was tightly clutching in his hands some ancient book.

"I'm not sure you are ready," said Henry and chanced a look at the man near him. "And my name is Henry, not kid."

"Sure, kid," scoffed Tony and continued. "What am I not ready for?"

"For this," Henry put his right hand protectively on the top of the book as if it was something sacred.

"I'm not ready for a bunch of fairytales?" Tony's voice was full of skepticism that even a ten year old child couldn't miss.

"They are not just fairytales. They are true," answered boy defensively. "Everything in this book actually happened."

"Sure it did."

"I'm not lying. Use your superpower," Henry tried to turn his body to look straight at Tony, but the seatbelt made it difficult.

After a minute of silence Tony broke it: "Let's say I believe you," he glanced at the boy, but then returned his attention to the road. "What do I have to do with any of this?"

"You have to do everything with it. You are in the book after all and you are really special," said boy using a 'duh' tone.

"Ok, kid. You have some problems," Tony smirked. On the inside he found it all very amusing. 'If only you knew, kid. If only you knew.'

"Yep," Henry popped the 'p' and brightly smiled at him. "And you're the key to fixing them."

* * *

 

Upon crossing the townline Tony felt something changing around him and that called for some investigating. But this could wait. Now he had more pressing matters at hand. Like his son, who he gave up long time ago, sitting right next to him.

After a trip to the center of the town, talk about fairytales, Evil Queens, curses, frozen time, conversation with Archi Hopper aka Jiminy Cricket, they finally made it to Henry's home.

'This day is something else. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly from here,' thought Tony. But it seemed, today luck wasn't on his side.

"Please, don't make me go there..." begged Henry, looking at Tony from his seat.

"And what, tell me, should I do then?" Tony unfastened his seatbelt and turned to Henry to do the same with his. "Kidnap you and run away? And then hide from cops for the rest of our lives?" He looked Henry right in the eyes.

For the first time since their meeting, Henry was rendered speechless. He just stared at his father with eyes wide open.

"As I thought," Tony put his right hand on boy's shoulder and lightly pushed him to the door of the car. "Now man up and let's get you to your mother."

They only managed to make it halfway to the front door, when the said door was thrown open. A breathtakingly beautiful woman ran out of the house moving in their direction.

"Henry!"

"Henry, are you okay?" She fiercely hugged her son, but he didn't return her embrace. "I was so worried. Where have you been? What happened?" She slightly leaned away from him and put her hands on his shoulders.

However, Henry tried to look everywhere but at his mother and pulled completely away from her. "I found my father!" Then he just ran to the house, leaving two adults alone.

The woman straightened up and finally looked at Tony, as if just noticing him.

Her eyes were full of unshed tears, and Tony could easily read all her emotions in them. Pain caused by harsh words of her son. Relief, because now she knew that he was okay and nothing happened to him. Fear... That Tony couldn't explain.

"Y-you are Henry's birthfather?" her voice was shaking.

Everything about this situation screamed awkward. "Hi."

This seemed to take the woman out of some trance. An impenetrable mask appeared on her face, her stance changed to something more regal and haughty. However, Tony still could read all of her emotions in her eyes.

"Oh, well... Where are my manners?" Tony threw her a charming smile, but her expression didn't change. "My name is Anthony Swan. And you are..?" He held his hand out.

She didn't take his hand, just continued staring at him inquisitively.

"Regina Mills. How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?"

"I have a long road home ahead of me, so I must refuse. However, some water would be nice."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'This woman is something else,' thoughts like this kept clouding Tony's mind during the beginning of his trip back to Boston.

Regina Mills was not only his type (with her petite figure clad in this form-fitting dress, luscious brunette hair, deep russet eyes, in which you could drown and drown a happy man), you could just tell that she is very intelligent, sassy woman, and this power that surrounded her... All in all, she was everything he liked in his women and Tony definitely would have gone after her, if not for only one little problem.

One little ten year old problem.

Anthony strongly believed that all serious relationships are doomed from the start, so he preferred fun fulfilling and most importantly short-lived interactions. However, when there is a child in the middle of everything, relationships just can't not progress into something more. And in the end, when everything comes crashing down, child's feelings would surely be damaged the most.

So, when their paths cross again, Tony decided to keep his distance from Ms. Mills, even if he wanted so much to get to know her better. For Henry.

Talking about Henry. During the conversation with Ms. Mills in her study they still weren't able to deduce, how the boy managed not to only find his biological father, but to run away to Boston.

This topic led to some other sensitive issues for both parties.

* * *

**108, Mifflin St.**

**1 hour ago**

"So tell me, Mr. Swan, should I be worried about Henry's biological mother showing up on my doorstep too?" Tony didn't expect this matter to come up.

He took a sip from his glass of water, put it on the table in front of him and leaned back on the luxurious leather couch to look straight at the woman in front of him.

"She was not in the picture since Henry's birth. So no, nothing to worry about," his voice was strained, because even after all these years, thoughts about her made his blood boil. However, with time he learned to conceal his true feelings behind the mask of indifference and only the tone of his voice occasionally betrayed him.

"Do I need to be worried about you, Mr. Swan?" Regina asked her guest with a raised elegant brow, still standing in front of the fireplace with a glass of apple cider in hand.

"Absolutely not," Tony was bloody tired of this seemingly endless day, and he had no intention to seat through the whole interrogation from concerned mother, so he took matters into his own hands. "With all due respect, Ms. Mills, it's been a long day and I have no time for any of this," He stood up and put his hands in the pockets of his slacks. "So I'll just tell you, what I came here to tell you, and be on my way."

Regina was speechless. No one has ever talked to her like that: not in the past, not now. It really irritated her, how this man stood there and didn't show any respect or fear, she was so used to. But at the same time it was somehow refreshing.

Tony didn't give her time to reply.

"Please, make sure that this situation with Henry didn't happen again. The big city, as it is, is a dangerous environment for a child to wander alone, but through my job I acquired quite a bunch of enemies. And they won't spare anyone, even an innocent child, to get to me," with that said, Tony made his way to the door of the study. "I hope we understood each other."

"Yes, yes, of course," Regina was truly horrified. If what this man said was true, then Henry got extremely lucky to get home unharmed today. She needed to have a serious talk with him, even if he thought her to be evil.

They walked to the front door of the mansion in silence. Each of them was deep in their own thoughts. Only when they reached their destination, Tony stopped and turned around to say something, but, because Regina didn't pay much attention to her surroundings, she walked right into the father of her son. If he didn't put his hands on her shoulder to steady her, her posterior would have had a meeting with the wooden floor of the hall right about now.

"Wow... You okay?" asked Tony with worry in his voice. They were so close that he could feel her breath on his face.

Regina was mesmerized by this sea-green eyes. It seemed, they managed to put her in some kind of trance, because she just could not look away.

"Y-yes," Regina collected herself and took a step away from the man, but still didn't look away.

"Okay," Tony gave her a sheepish easy-going smile. "So I'll be going. Please, don't let Henry seek me out again."

With that said he opened the front door and stepped out. But before Regina could close the door, Tony turned around and added.

"And, Ms. Mills, you might want to check this ancient storybook, Henry couldn't stop talking about. Maybe it'll help shed the light on some of his issues. Have a good night," and Tony made his way to the car.

For a couple of seconds Regina stared at his departing figure and then slammed the door shut.

Only one thought was on her mind.

'What the hell was all that?'

* * *

Something about this town unnerved Tony, and he had all the intentions to find out what it was.

However, for now he decided to head back to his apartment in Boston, finish some business there and return to Storybrooke as soon as possible.

Buried deep in his thoughts, Tony didn't pay much attention to the road and only at the last moment noticed that something was blocking it.

Everything escalated too fast.

Here was a huge wolf right in front of his car. Then Tony abruptly turned the wheel to avoid the animal. In the next moment his beloved dark-green Mitsubishi Lancer was stopped by the sign "Storybrooke" at the side of the road.

Tony immediately jumped out of his car to survey the damage and see the culprit of the accident at closer range.

The wolf was nowhere to be seen and, if the smoke coming from his car and the state of the townsign were any indications, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Tony fished the phone from the pocket of his jacket and dialed a number.

...

"Good morning, Sheriff. There was an accident right by the south townline..."

* * *

"So Regina's drinks really do have a punch..."

After the Sheriff came to the scene of the accident, he quickly examined the site and took the culprit to the station, leaving the car in the hands of evacuators.

Now Sheriff Graham was sitting behind his desk and merrily chatted with Tony Swan. There were not many visitors from the outside world in Storybrooke and Gram just couldn't miss the opportunity to get to know someone new. All in all, Sheriff was intrigued.

As for Tony, he found the company of the Sheriff rather interesting and he could easily see them becoming friends.

"I already told you, Gram, I'm a responsible driver, so I had no chance to enjoy Madam Mayor's drinks," Tony grinned. "There was some animal standing in the middle of the road and I had no choice: either kill it or find yourself at the side of the road."

Tony decided not to tell what kind of animal it was or the size of it. 'No need to look crazy in the eyes of the town's Sheriff. Especially, if I'm planning on staying in this Storybrooke for a while.'

Gram wanted to say something, but staccato of heels on the tiled floor interrupted him.

Frantic looking Regina Mills rushed into the Sheriff's office. "Graham, Henry had run away again. We have to..."

She didn't finish the last sentence, because her gaze fell onto the other occupant of the room. Regina hadn't expected to see the father of her child ever again. After all he pretty clearly showed that he did not want to do anything with Henry and tried to live town as soon as possible. But here he was, sitting in the sheriff's office, friendly chatting with said sheriff...

"What is he doing here?" she asked Graham. "Do you know where is my son?" the woman turned to Tony.

"Do I look like I know?" Tony sassed. "And for your information, no, I don't know. I was with the Sheriff all this time."

"Yes. Well, he wasn't in his room, when I checked on him," Regina's expression was unreadable, but Tony could still feel all the worry and fear for her son coming from the woman in waves. So he decided to help her out.

Tony stood up from his sit and looked straight at Regina.

"Madam Mayor, I can help you find the boy. After all, finding people is my job."

* * *

It was obvious Mayor didn't want Tony's help, but for the sake of her son she swallowed her pride and agreed.

First of all, Tony decided to use his most favorite and effective method, even if there was a risk of getting caught. Upon exiting the station Tony stopped and concentrated on the power surrounding him. But nothing happened.

'Hm... Interesting," thought Tony and went after the Mayor to her car. Everything he did was too fast for anyone to notice.

After this failed attempt Tony proceeded with good old methods, though they were not as fast and effective as the first, if it did work

A search through Henry's laptop proved rather useful. They managed to find out how Henry found his father, that he payed for the bus to Boston via credit card, and discovered the name of the owner of said card.

Mary Margaret Blanchard.

Only one mention of this name changed Regina's expression for a second, but a second was enough for Tony to notice that. 'There must be a history between these two.' and if only he knew, what a history it was...

So here they were standing in a classroom in front of a woman with a short dark hair and kind-looking eyes.

Regina marched right to the woman, and Tony tried to keep his distance and give the women some semblance of privacy, but at the same time hear them.

"Ms. Mills, how may I help you?" asked the woman.

"Where is Henry?" demanded the Mayor.

"I thought he was sick and stayed home," the woman looked rather confused.

"You think, I would be here if he was?" irritation seeped through the Mayor's voice.

This talk seemed to lead them nowhere and just waste their time, so Tony decided to intervene.

"Ms. Blanchard, why did you give the boy your credit card?" asked Tony walking closer to the women. The teacher's expression grew only more confused.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"I'm just helping Madam Mayor find her son," answered Tony, before Regina could even open her mouth. "Name is Anthony Swan." he curtly nodded. "So it seems you have no idea, what Henry did behind your back?"

She shook her head and whispered as if to herself. "I should never have given him that book..." However, it was loud enough for the two other occupants of the room to hear.

"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" with every second Regina grew only more agitated.

"Just some old stories, I gave him. As you know..."Ms. Blanchard tried to clarify, but was interrupted.

"Okay. Have you any idea, where Henry could be?" asked Regina. She grew tired of all this merry chit-chat and just wanted her son back.

"No, I'm afraid not," squealed Mary Margaret at the harsh tone of the Mayor.

"This is a waste of time," sighed Regina and made her way to the door.

"Madam Mayor..." Tony tried to stop her, but this was futile.

Regina turned to him as if just remembering about his presence.

"Ah, yes. Mr. Swan. It seems, you are not as capable as you think," she gave him a belittling stare and turned to the door. "Have a nice trip back to Boston." And she was gone.

Tony just smirked at the insult. His interactions with Mayor greatly amused him. 'I'll dwell on it another time. Now I have some lying teachers to interrogate.'

"Okay, Ms. Blanchard. Why did you lie?" Tony looked at the teacher with a reprimanding eyes.

"W-what do you mean?" she tried to play innocent, but Tony was too good at reading people.

"You lied about not knowing where the boy might be. So tell me kindly about it or should I call Madam Mayor back, tell her about my little discovery and let her deal with it?"

"Okay," Mary Margaret didn't want any more of Mayor's wraith directed at her. "You might want to check his castle. It's like a sanctuary from everyone and everything."

"Why didn't you tell it to his mother?" Tony just couldn't understand the logic of this woman.

"It may sound strange, but... I just have this feeling that I know you from somewhere, that I can trust you," she smiled at Tony and for some unknown reason goosebumps ran over his back. "As for Mayor Mills..." Mary Margaret frowned, but Tony didn't let her finish.

"With all due respect, Ms. Blanchard, you only met me five minutes ago and..." he was too tired to deal with all this shit now. 'I'll just tell Madam Mayor, and let her deal with it.'

"Just tell me where is this castle?" sighed Tony.

'And then I'll have my well-deserved sleep.'

* * *

A walk to the old wooden playground by the sea took Tony longer than he thought. But in the end his efforts were rewarded. He finally fond Henry.

The boy was just sitting there and looking through his beloved storybook.

"Are we done playing hide-n-seek, kid?" Henry didn't notice him coming, so he jumped a little at the voice of his father.

"Emmet..."

"Ow... I prefer Tony," the man sat next to Henry. "You'd better stop running away, Henry, or your mother will soon have a heart attack."

"She is evil! She doesn't care about me! She just pretends to care about me!" stubbornly repeated Henry. 'It must be genes.'

"Okay, listen to me, kid," Tony was fed up with this bullshit; he put his left hand on the base of the boy's neck and made Henry look him in the eyes. "Even if your mom is evil, which I just can't believe, she still loves you with abandon and will do anything for you..."

"She cursed everyone in this town and won't let anyone have their happy ending!" Henry jumped to his feet and now he was looking down on his father. "Life here sucks!"

"Oh, you really don't know what 'sucks' means," Tony tiredly sighed. "And I'm really sorry to burst your bubble, kiddo, but happy endings don't exist. You'll just have to fight through life and be as happy as you can. End means there is nothing afterwards, but where's the fun in that?" Maybe it was too harsh to tell something like that to a 10-year-old boy, but Tony didn't see any sense in sugar-coating anything.

Tony looked at the boy, but he clearly still wasn't convinced.

"Kid, let's make another deal. I haven't slept for 40 hours, I'm too tired to talk now. So I will stay in town fir a while and we will talk later..."

Tony was interrupter by the excited squeak. "Yes!"

"Not so fast, kid," Tony raised his index finger and seriously looked at the boy. "There are some terms. No more running away, okay?" Henry nodded vigorously. "And you have to try to forget about the Evil Queen from your book and concentrate your attention on your loving mom, who took care of you for 10 years."

"But..." Henry tried to protest.

"Do we have a deal or not?" Tony raised a brow and stretched his hand out for a handshake.

For a moment, Henry hesitated, but then nodded and shook his father's hand. "Yes, deal."

Tony smirked. "Then, for now, let's get you home."

* * *

When they walked to the front door of the mayoral mansion, it was already getting dark.

As Tony reached out to knock, the door was opened and out rushed a worried Ms. Mills.

"Henry," she sighed, put her hands on his shoulders and started to look him over. "Are you okay? Where have you been? Again..."

"I'm fine, mom," Henry's voice was not as harsh as in the morning, but was still kind of aloof. "I was just wandering around," he shook his mother's hands off and tried to sneak upstairs, but his mother's voice stopped him.

"Henry Daniel Mills," reprimanded Regina. She looked rather intimidating. "You are grounded for a week. Now go to your room; we will discuss your behavior later."

Henry understood that now was not the time to argue with his mother, so he quickly retreated to his room.

Regina turned to the man still standing on her front porch.

"Mr. Swan, I have to thank you for finding Henry," she practically forced these words out of her mouth. "And I must take my words about your incompetence back."

"No big deal, Madam Mayor," answered Tony with a tired smile.

"Now, as you have no more business here, in Storybrooke, have a nice trip back to Boston," Regina

"Truthfully, Madam Mayor, I decided to stay in Storybrooke for a while. There is some business I need to address to here. Besides my car is broken and I just physically can't leave."

Regina grit her teeth. "And what is this business, Mr. Swan?"

"It's for me to know and for you not to find out. Have a good evening, Madam Mayor."

Regina couldn't leave it like that. She grabbed Tony's elbow and turned him back around to look him straight in the eyes.

"Mr. Swan, I hope there is no misunderstanding here," she spat. "Don't mistake all this as invitation back to Henry's life. He is my son and your appearance won't change that. Do you know what closed adoption is?"

Tony took a step closer to Regina, and now his lean frame was looming over her petite once.

"I know what it is. I can assure you, my business has nothing to do with Henry. I won't purposefully seek out his company, but if he wants to communicate with me, while I'm still in town, I won't stop him."

Regina didn't back down.

"Stay away from MY son, or I will destroy you, even if it is the last thing I do," Regina turned around and walked into the house. "Goodbye, Mr. Swan."

* * *

A blond man stood in front of a window in a room of B&B, looking at the Main street, and talked with someone on the phone.

...

"Yes, yes, I know."

...

"Listen. I fond this strange town in Main and I'd like to stay here for a while to investigate."

...

"Yes. I just feel magic buzzing in the air around me and it's so intense. It's the most potent magic, I've ever felt. However, when I try to reach it... Nothing happens, as if something's blocking it, prevents me from accessing it."

...

"Yeah, I know. It's really strange."

...

"'kay. I'll be..."

...

"Love you too. Say 'hi' to everyone for me."

...

"Bye."

With that he closed the curtains and rushed to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Mayor Regina Mills was walking down the Main St. of Storybrooke. For the middle of the fall the weather was just great. Everyone in town tried to enjoy possibly the last sunny days of this year.

However, the mood of our beloved Mayor was not as bright and sunny.

Throughout the morning she tried to concentrate on work, but her mind kept drifting to one annoying pest.

Tony Swan.

Since his arrival two days earlier, everything started to change. Everything started to go to hell. And Regina surely didn't like that.

There was no place for strangers in her town, especially for strangers, who were connected to her son.

Henry looked at this man with so much adoration and admiration. Her precious little boy stopped looking at her like that a year ago, when he found out that he was adopted and everything went downhill. Now his glances were full of suspicion and distrust, as if 9 years of care and love no longer mattered. As if she was no longer his mother, and was just a stranger, who gave him shelter in her house.

With every hateful look from her beloved son her heart broke a little bit more. But she refused to give up; she will fight for Henry's love with everything she has, and people, who stand in the way to her well-deserved happiness, will regret their own existence.

Anthony Swan will regret even entertaining the thought of staying in Storybrooke.

For now all her efforts were futile.

To start with Regina tried to find some dirt on the man with the help of her loyal lapdog Sidney Glass. But as it seemed, the information, that reporter managed to dig out, was useless: Emmet Anthony Swan was an orphan with sealed juvenile reports, years as a cop and later on after an accident out in the field he took on a career of a bail-bonds person. From then on his name did not appear in any documents, newspapers and so on. As if he just vanished from the face of the earth.

After this fiasco Regina decided to turn to the man, who knew everything about this town, if not more. After all he created the curse and she was just a tool for casting it. He brought Henry to her and he ought to know something about her son's biological father. The woman had no doubt that Rumple had his fairytale memories intact and just played his role for 28 years with persuasion of an experienced actor.

When Regina confronted her former master, he just played innocent and refused to share any information. He only hinted on the identity of Tony Swan and thus confirmed her worst fear.

The only person, except Regina, of course, who was able to cross the townline. The person, who has his 28th BirthDay on the day of 28th anniversary of her curse. The one who was born to break her curse and stop her. The Savior.

Regina would have killed him on sight, but Henry would never forgive her for destroying his father. So she needed to act subtly to retain her happiness.

'Oh, why is everything has to be so complicated?'

These dark thoughts continued to flood her mind and interfere with her work, so by the lunch-time Regina decided that she needed some fresh air to clear her head and headed out of her office.

While she was walking down the road, a memory about this morning's events involuntarily came to mind.

* * *

**B &B**

**5 hours earlier**

_Regina knocked twice on the door of the room of B &B and heard a muffled answer. "One second."_

_A blond man opened the door. He had only his trousers on and droplets of water was running down his chiseled torso. Truthfully, Regina couldn't help admiring his strong physique, but she quickly snapped out of it and kept her eyes on his face._

_"Oh, Madam Mayor," Tony stopped drying his wet blond hair with a white fluffy towel and threw it over his shoulders. "Good morning. How did I manage to earn such an early visit?" His smile was bright and sincere and deep green eyes shone with mischief._

_His attitude was drastically different from the other night: he looked more relaxed and friendly, less guarded and hostile. This change alarmed the brunette, but nonetheless she answered him with her own politician smile on._

_"Good morning, Mr. Swan. I talked with Mr. Tillman, our local mechanic, and he graciously agreed to hurry up with the repairing of your car, so by tomorrow it would be as good as new."_

_"That's really nice of him," the smile didn't leave Tony's face. "It would be much more easy to move around town."_

_"Yes, really nice," Regina decided to ignore his last sentence. "So, as a Mayor of this town, I decided personally inform you about this and," she took a red apple from the basket, she was holding in her hands, and held it out to Tony. "Give you a parting gift. I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your way home."_

_"Oh, thank you, Madam Mayor," Tony took an apple from her hand; their fingers brushed and both felt a tingling sensation running up their hands. "Though I intend to stay in town for a while."_

_"I'm not sure it's such a good idea," Regina's face changed in a matter of seconds. "Henry has enough issues; he doesn't need you confusing him even more."_

_"With all due respect, Madam Mayor, I'm not staying for Henry," Tony's smile didn't waver a bit and it only served to agitate Regina even more._

_"Don't take me for an idiot, Mr. Swan. You have no other reasons to stay," Regina crept closer to the man and now was standing practically nose to nose with him._

_"Not every reason must be obvious," Tony just raised his right hand up in surrender (other was occupied by the apple), but didn't step back. "There's no need to worry, Madam Mayor."_

_"It's time for you to go," her voice was sharp as a razor and her eyes were even sharper. "Don't underestimate me, Mr. Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of," she almost growled the last part._

_Tony's smile transformed into a smug smirk. "Do your worst, Madam Mayor. I'll be looking forward to it."_

* * *

Two days went by since Tony Swan came to Storybrooke, and it was an interesting, for the lack of better word, couple of days.

Now Tony was just strolling in the park, enjoying the great weather and nature, surrounding him. But the best thing he liked about the park was the lack of people.

Lack of nosy citizens, trying to find out who he was, why he was in Storybrooke and so on and so forth.

Lack of Henry, trying to make him believe in a bunch of fairytales. Though Tony really started to like the boy. He was a smart, funny kid, but his stubbornness and unwillingness to take in consideration the feelings of his own mother seriously gritted on Tony's nerves.

And last, but not least, lack of Regina Mills. She was hell bent on driving Tony away from Storybrooke. It was getting harder and harder to ignore her attempts to get rid of him. At first it kind of amused him, but amusement dulled, when he was forced to move out of B&B (luckily, he managed to find a nice place by the docks thanks to pawnshop owner Mr. Gold), when she tried to frame him for stealing some notes from Henry's shrink Mr. Hopper, when she tried to set Henry against him.

All in all, all this distracted Tony from his main purpose, and if you think about it, it was kind of ironic. The harder Madam Mayor tried to force Tony out of town, the longer he would stay.

Tony's thoughts were cut short when he noticed a familiar figure by the woods.

It was a teacher from Henry's class. Tony walked closer to her and noticed that she was trying to place a birdhouse on a tree, but struggled with this task, because of her short stature.

"Let me..." Tony decided to put her out of her misery, took the birdhouse from her hands and with ease hung it on the closest branch.

"Thank you," the woman turned to him with gratitude shining in her eyes, but upon noticing who it was her bright smile faltered a little. "Oh, Mr. Swan, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Ms. Blanchard, right?" Tony smiled charmingly, trying to ease the tension.

"Please, just Mary Margaret. I'm too young to be addressed so formally," Mary Margaret answered with a shrug.

"Ok, Mary Margaret, than you can call me Tony," Tony smirked. "I know, we met only a couple of days ago, but would you mind keeping me company during my walk? I really don't want to get lost," he stretched his right hand in the desired direction.

"Why not," agreed Mary Margaret.

For a couple of minutes they walked in complete silence, deep in their own thoughts.

Tony wondered, why he was so comfortable in the company of this woman. He barely knew her, but his consciousness told him, he can trust her, rely on her. For not so sociable Tony it was really strange.

Unknowingly to her companion Mary Margaret had similar thoughts.

Tony was the first to break the silence.

"Mary Margaret, I wanted to apologize for my behavior during our last meeting," without any preambles started Tony. "It was hard to keep my emotions under control after a sleepless night, and I was really worried about Henry..."

"So its true?" she inquiringly looked at the man. "That you are Henry's father?"

"How did you find out?" Tony doubted that Regina was so open with this information.

"It's a small town, Tony," she pointedly looked at him. "There aren't many things to gossip about, but when a gossip appears, it spreads like a wildfire. Though you still didn't answer my question..."

"It's true," sighed Tony. "I'm his biological father, but, please, don't repeat my words to anyone else. Madam Mayor has enough on her plate without my interference."

"Of course, I understand," Mary Margaret nodded. "It would do Henry some good to get to know his roots though."

"Maybe, maybe not," Tony shook his head. "I gave my right to be in his life a long time ago. His mother loves him dearly. I don't want to cause problems in their family."

Mary Margaret stopped and turned to face Tony. "But sometimes the boy just needs his father," her eyes were full of sincerity. She saw that Tony wanted to protest and stopped him with a raised hand. "Just, please, don't push Henry away, try to understand him."

"I... I, yeah... I'll try..."

Mary Margraret looked at the time and her facial expression immediately changed from compassionate to somehow worried and apologetic. "I need to go," she smiled. "It was nice talking to you, Tony."

"Yes, I understand," Tony smile too. "Again, I really am sorry for my rudeness another day. It was uncalled for."

"Don't worry about that. It's understandable," Mary Margaret started to walk in the general direction of the school. "And thank you for the help with the birdhouse."

"Anytime"

Tony looked at the departing figure of the woman. After this talk he had only more issues to think through, but at the same time he felt lighter.

'Really, really strange town.'

* * *

Henry was a happy boy. He finally found his father and soon Tony would break the curse of the Evil Queen and they would reunite with their family.

He was so deep in his happy thoughts that he didn't notice that his cup with cocoa was too close to the edge of the table. Henry made a clumsy motion with his hand and the content of his cup ended up on his shirt.

The boy jumped from his sit and tried to wipe the cocoa from the shirt with some napkins. "Awawaw, mom will kill me."

When napkins didn't help much and only made the stain worse, Henry rushed to the restroom of The Granny's. Though before he turned the corner, he heard some hushed voices coming from the storage room.

'Go to the restroom or investigate? Hm, I think the answer is clear.'

The door wasn't fully closed, so Henry sneaked a peak through the gap and saw two woman inside.

One was some heavily pregnant girl, he didn't know the name of; the other was Ruby. She was trying to console the other girl.

"Ashley, tell me, what happened?" Ruby asked and put her hand on Ashley's forearms.

It was a clue for Henry to stop listening and go away, but his innate curiosity didn't let him, so he kept on eavesdropping.

"Ruby, I can't let him take her," sobbed Ashley, putting her hands on her swollen belly. "I can't give her up, just can't. I don't know what to do... Ruby..."

"Okay, calm down and tell me everything from the start," soothingly asked Ruby. "I know, you had a deal with Gold to give her up, what changed?"

Ashley took a calming breath. "I don't want to give her up. I tried to talk with Mr. Gold, but he won't budge, so tonight I went to his shop to steal our contract, but he caught me... Ruby, I... I had to knock him out..."

"Oh my God, Ashley," Ruby gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "He must be furious. If he finds you..."

"I know, but I don't know what to do."

For a moment silence settled over the two, but then Ruby's eyes lit up.

"Ash, we should run away from Storybrooke," her voice was full of excitement. "We can take my car and drive wherever we want to."

"Ruby, but what about..?" Ashley hesitated. She had nothing to lose in this town, but Ruby... She had her granny, a home, her job.

"No, Ash. I'm tired of this tranquil little town. I want to see the world," Ruby stubbornly said. "So what'd you say?"

"If you are sure, Ruby," agreed Ashley, and Henry understood that their talk was over and done, and he ran to his booth, grabbed his bag and coat and ran out of the diner.

'I need to find Tony and fast. He'll help me stop Mr. Gold and stop the girls from crossing the townline or something terrible will surely happen to them.'

Little Henry knew that Tony wasn't in Storybrooke or even close to it.

* * *

Henry couldn't find Tony anywhere. He looked at his flat, at the docks, ran through the park, even went to Granny's one more time. No one saw him anywhere.

'But he couldn't have just vanished,' Henry was walking down the Main St. looking through the glass of every shop. 'What if he..? No he wouldn't... Ah, Evil Queen! She must have found a way to catch Tony.'

As this thought came to Henry's mind, he ran to the townhall as fast as his short legs would take him.

"Where is he?" Henry threw open the door of his mother's office and rushed in. "Tell me! What have you done to him?"

Regina was truly shocked. She was just looking through some documents, when her agitated son ran into her office and demanded some answers.

"Henry, what are you doing here? You must be at school now," she asked and went around her desk to stand right in front of her son. "And what did happen to your shirt?"

"Where is Tony? What did you do to him?" Henry ignored her questions and asked his own.

"I don't know what you are talking about, young man, but you'd better answer MY questions right now," Regina put her hands on her hips and was ready to reprimand her son. However, then she took a closer look and noticed a state he was in.

His eyes were red and were full of unshed tears; his lips was trembling and his little hands were tightly clenched into fists.

'He'll get an earful for skipping school later. Now I need to find out what's happening here.' Regina crouched to be on one eye-level with her son and said. "What is happening, Henry? Why are you upset?"

"I can't find Tony anywhere! I know, you have something to do with that. Tell me, where is he?" demanded Henry.

"Henry," Regina tried to take his hand, but Henry did't let her. It hurt. "I didn't see Mr. Swan since last morning. Maybe he just left town?" she prayed that it was true, but with her luck Henry's biological father just got lost in the woods.

"No, he wouldn't do that," Henry refused to believe it. "He must help me. I don't believe you. Tell me the truth. Why can't you just tell me the truth?"

Regina flinched at this word and noticed that tears started to run from Henry's eyes. She hated seeing her son cry. At moments like that she was ready to do anything to calm him down.

"Henry, shh, calm down, please. I'm telling the truth, I didn't see him," Regina looked him in the eyes with all the sincerity she could muster. Then an idea stuck her. "What if we call him? I have his number ." Regina took her phone out from the pocket of her slacks without getting up.

Henry momentarily stopped crying and looked at his mother with confused eyes. He didn't expect this from his mother.

After a couple of seconds someone answered. " _Swan_."

"Mr. Swan, where are you?" asked Regina with a stern tone.

" _Are you worried, Madam Mayor? Already miss me?"_

Regina rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Swan. My son started to worry, when he couldn't find you anywhere, so answer the question."

 _"In Boston_."

"Oh, as I thought," in truth Regina was surprised and somewhat... disappointed? She refused to admit it, even to herself.

" _Mayor Mills..."_

"Mom, give me the phone, please," begged Henry and held his hand out. Before that he was silent, but just couldn't wait anymore.

"Okay," Regina just couldn't say no to these sad puppy dog eyes. "Henry wants to have a word with you. I'm giving him the phone."

Henry snatched the phone from her hands and rapidly started talking. Regina could clearly hear both sides of the talk.

"Tony, where are you? I need your help with something. It's an emergency. You need to come and get me from the townhall as soon as possible," Henry said at the speed of the light.

 _"Wow, kid, slow down. I can't get you now. I'm in Boston._.." then Tony was interrupted.

"What?! But you... You said you'll stay in Storybrooke. You promised! I need you here!"

 _"Hey, kid. Kid, calm down,"_ Tony tried to reason with boy. _"I needed to get my things and wrap up some business in Boston. I'll be back in Storybrooke by the dinner, and then we'll solve this crisis, okay?_ " Tony heard coughing on the other line and smirked. 'Surprise, Madam Mayor. You won't get rid of me this easily.'

"No, not okay!" screamed Henry. "It's an emergency! Life or death situation. I need you here, in Storybrooke. I have no one to help me."

 _"Oh, kid, you know it's not true_." Tony smiled. Here was the chance to prove to the boy that his mother was not as evil as he thought. " _There is one woman, who will be by your side no matter what, no matter how much you try to push her away."_

"But..." Henry glanced at his mother and tried to argue, but was interrupted.

 _"Just ask her, kiddo. If situation is as dire as you tell it is, then you can use all the help you can get_." Tony heard a sigh on the other line and mentally patted himself on the shoulder for managing to convince the stubborn boy.

Regina was truly shocked by this talk between father and son. Even in her wildest dreams she couldn't imagine Tony helping her reconnect with her son. But here it was happening. In real life nonetheless. On the outside she showed indifference, but on the inside she wanted to dance.

"Okay, Tony. But, please, come back as soon as possible," Henry agreed, because he had no other choice.

_"I'll try, but can't promise anything."_

"Thank you, dad. Bye."

" _Bye, kid."_

* * *

After a miraculous awakening of Mr. David "Prince-Charming" Nolan and all the mess surrounding his accident, disappearance, search for him and, in the end, his memory loss a couple of days ago, Tony was drained mentally as well as physically. Plus keeping an eye on a sneaky 10-year old boy didn't give him much time to relax. Where was his control-freak mother, when she was so needed?

All in all, one good thing came out of these events: Tony landed a spot of a Deputy Sheriff and he happily accepted it. Now he had access to all town's records and could legally go through them without anyone suspecting a thing.

Though before getting to work Tony decided to take a break from Storybrooke and head to Boston. Besides, he still had to pick up his scarce belongings and deal with some problems.

But a phone call cut his impromptu vacation short.

And here he was, three hours later, crossing the border of the town.

Something on the side of the road caught his eyes. It was a red car and something told Tony that its driver didn't just stop to have a rest or ask for direction.

Tony stopped nearby and exited his Lancer. Upon closer inspection he noticed that there were only two girls in that car: one was visibly unconscious, the other was curled over herself and obviously writhing in pain.

"Hey, what's your name?" Tony opened the driver's door, asked the girl in the passenger seat to somehow distract her from the pain, and at the same time crouched over the unconscious girl, checking her pulse.

"A-Ashley," she gasped. Only then Tony noticed her protruding belly. 'Oh, shit. She's pregnant.'

"H-How is Ruby? I-Is she..? Ahhh!" her sky-blue eyes were full of fear and worry, but than a wave of pain hit her.

"She'll be okay. Tell me how long ago did your contractions start?" at the same time Tony looked over Ruby in search of any injuries and then unfastened her seatbelt.

"I don't know. M-Maybe an hour ago."

"Okay, try to get rid of your seatbelt. I'll put your friend in my car, then will come back for you," Tony said in his most reassuring tone and pulled Ruby out of the car. Ashley only nodded in agreement.

When he got back for Ashley, she already managed to open the passenger door and was trying to get out.

"Ow, careful," Tony took her into his hands and carried her to his car. Ashley only grunted in protest, but didn't say anything. "I'll call the hospital on our way, so they'll be ready to take care of you two, when we arrive."

"No! Don't take me back to Storybrooke! He'll take her!" She cried out.

Tony frowned and tried to reason with the girl. "The closest hospital is in Boston, and Boston is more than three hours away from here." he put her in the front seat of his car, fastened her and wanted to go to his seat, but a hand on his wrist stopped him.

"Please, anywhere, but there," Ashley's eyes were full of tears. "If we go there, he will take my girl. Please."

"Ashley, Ruby needs medical attention. She may have a concussion. She needs help," if her own health was irrelevant to the girl, then maybe she'll be more concerned for the well being of her friend. "And during the ride you can tell me who is this he, why he wants to take away your baby, and I will see, what can I do for you, okay?"

"You will help?"

"I can't promise anything, but I'll try."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Hey... Ruby, right?"

Tony entered the hospital room with a smile on his face, happy to see that the girl had finally woken up. He remembered she was a pretty waitress from local diner "Granny's". She was a flirty tease, but none-the-less a fun person to talk to.

"Hey, yeah, and you are this newcomer," Ruby answered groggily. She was still weak and a bright hospital light blinded her.

"Yep," Tony smirked. "I'll go call your doctor and let your granny know you're awake, okay?"

"Wait!" Ruby tried to sit in the bed and looked at him pleadingly. "How did I end up here? The last thing I remember is driving to Boston."

"Whoa... Calm down and stay still," said Tony in a calming manner and walked closer to the bed. "You and Ashley had an accident not far from the town line. You got a light concussion and got knocked out from the impact. I found you two and took to the hospital."

The realization hit Ruby and her eyes widened. "Where is Ashley? Is she okay?"

"She is okay," reassured the girl Tony. "She is giving birth now."

This made Ruby sit up again with panic in her deep green eyes. This time Tony put a hand on her shoulder and physically made her lay back down.

"Calm down. If you're worried 'bout Ashley's child, don't. She told me everything about this "situation" of hers and it's in my power to help them both," Tony used his most convincing voice; it seemed to work. "Now rest. I'll call your doctor."

Tony smiled at Ruby and walked out of her room without another word.

Truth be told, Tony was just walking by Ruby's ward on the way out of the hospital, when he saw her wake. He wanted to visit the pawnbroker's shop and have a talk with this Mr. Gold.

However, luck seemed to be on his side today and just before he turned the corner, he heard familiar voice, saying the name of the man he wanted to talk to.

"Gold, just drop this contract," Regina tried to persuade the man. "Why do you so desperately want this child?"

Tony decided not to intrude and just watch the conversation unfold from afar. At least for now.

'Looks like Henry, after all, asked his mother for help,' mused Tony. 'Good for them.'

"Oh, it's none of your business, Mayor Mills," answered the man with a thick accent. He was dressed in a tailored suit and had an antique looking cane in his hands. "So now just let me go and check on the status of my purchase." He tried to walk by the woman, but she didn't let him.

And Tony just couldn't help admiring her.

"You don't need this child. You still had not fulfilled your end of the bargain; there's nothing for you to lose here," Regina insisted, but she knew, there was no going back on a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, even if he didn't remember who he was. Which she strongly doubted. However, for Henry she was willing to try and convince this man.

"Madam Mayor, you're a busy woman, so why don't you get back to your duties and stop wasting my time," Regina wanted to protest, but the word Gold said after that stopped her. "Please."

Regina stepped aside, letting Mr. Gold's go without another word, and Tony found it really strange. This fierce woman just wouldn't back down so easily. It was not in her character to just meekly give up.

'Gold must have something on our dear Mayor.' It was the first thought that came to his mind, though to be sure Tony decided to check for the influence of the other type.

Tony closed his eyes and concentrated on the energy surrounding them. When he opened them, everything around him burst into different colors. In the midst of this chaos he managed to find the figures of Madam Mayor and Mr. Gold. Something akin to burgundy smoke was coming from Gold's eyes and enveloped the Mayor's head like a cobweb.

'Hm... Interesting,' pondered Tony. 'Magic is blocked within this town, but somehow Gold succeeded in using it on the Mayor. Maybe, an amulet or some kind of artifact... Possible... Or it can be an oath, made before magic was blocked... Well, this can wait. Time for me to intervene.'

Tony moved from his observational point and went straight to Mr. Gold.

"Good evening, Madam Mayor," everyone in the corridor looked at him. "Nice to see you again." Tony gave her his signature lopsided smile. She just glared at him in answer.

"Mr. Swan. I thought you went back to Boston."

"Changed my plans," For some unknown, even to him, reason Tony couldn't stop smiling in the presence of the Mayor. He decided that he just liked aggravating her and what could be more aggravating than a constant bright smile.

"You must be Mr. Gold?" Tony turned to the older man. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Yes, and you are? How may I help you?" the creepiest grin Tony's ever seen graced Gold's face.

"Anthony Swan," introduced himself Tony. "And I wanted to have a talk with you about a contract you have with Ashley Boyd," Tony momentarily got serious.

"It seems like a rather popular topic lately. What do you want with it?" the older man leaned on his cane with an unnerving grin still on his face.

"I want you to stop harassing the girl. She decided not to give up her child and it's her decision to make, not yours."

"I see... You're new in town, Mr. Swan, so I must inform you: no one goes back on a deal with me..." started Gold, but Tony didn't let him finish.

"Listen here, Mr. Gold," Tony got closer to the older man and lowered his tone. "There's only two ways, we can deal with this situation: you rip this contract of yours and we peacefully forget about everything, or you will answer for harassment, oppression of human rights and a dozen of other charges. Choose wisely..."

"If she charges me, I'll have no other choice but to charge Ms. Boyd with illegal entry and assault, so it's you, who have to choose wisely," Gold kept a calm facade, but on the inside he was boiling. How dare this boy challenge him like that?

"Oh, Ashley just came to your pawnshop to talk about the contract, you got angry and tried to attack her, so she had to defend herself," Tony cooked up a believable story in seconds. Luckily, he was not only good at detecting lies, but he was good at bluffing and a pro in deception. "Who would believe your words over the words of this sweet defenseless girl?"

"Well, that's unlikely, Mr. Swan," Gold smirked, but you could see the tension in his shoulders. He was not used to people resisting him in any way. Not in this realm. "However, I can offer you a deal: you can take Ms. Boyd's place."

Tony straightened up even further and folded his hands on the chest in a defensive stance. "What? Give to you my firstborn? I think Madam Mayor would be against it..."

"No, no, Mr. Swan. You take the contract, but we change terms of it. Let's say," Gold frowned his brows and then his face brightened as if in realization. "You'll owe me a favor. Suppose, it's fair enough."

"Oh, no, Mr. Gold, you'd have to be more concrete. Tell me what you want and, if it's legal, I'll think about it."

"A favor. In the future. Agree or step out of my way, so I get the child."

Tony saw that Gold was serious and won't change his mind. If he wanted to help Ashley without any trials and legal interference, he must take the deal, even though it was against his rules to agree to something without knowing all the details. Then a brilliant idea came to his mind.

"Okay, a favor in exchange for Ashley's contract," Tony stretched a hand for a handshake, but when Gold was about to take it, the blond withdrew his hand and raised an index finger. "With one additional term, cause of your "request" is so vague," Tony drew closer to the older man and was practically whispering in his ear, so no one could hear him. "You forget any compromising material, you have on our dear Mayor; forgive any debt she owes you; take off any binding spell you have on her right about now," Tony drew back and gave Gold a meaningful glance. "Suppose, it's fair enough."

Gold was rather shocked by the nerve of this man. He had the gall not only to disrespect him, but to dictate his terms in this arrogant manner. Furthermore, he somehow was aware of his deal with the Queen. Gold had no idea, how he managed to find out about it. If he agrees, he'll lose the leverage with Mayor, but on the other hand, a favor from the Savior was more important. Now the older man had no doubt, who this man was, even though he went by the other name. _'I'll have to pay a closer attention to him. He's not as simple as he seems.'_

Tony, in turn, was ecstatic. A look on Gold's face alone was worth everything. In addition, he may earn some brownie points with Madam Mayor.

"I have no idea, what you're talking about," Gold tried to play innocent, but it was futile.

"Do we have a deal or not?" A predatory smirk graced Tony's features.

"Deal," Gold practically growled this word, but then quickly composed himself. "Well, I'll be on my way. Mr. Swan. Madam Mayor," he nodded in farewell and limped to the elevator.

"It was nice dealing with you, Mr. Gold. See you 'round," Tony couldn't help antagonizing the older man. He got only a glare full of venom in return before the doors of the elevator closed behind Gold.

"There was no need to interfere, Mr. Swan," even if it wasn't true, Regina couldn't admit it. During the talk between Gold and Tony, she was forced to stay quite by the deal with Gold, but when the word 'deal' left imp's mouth, she somehow felt free. Though at the moment she didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, Regina decided to lash her frustration with Gold at Tony. "I had everything under control."

"If by control you mean, letting him go after a simple 'please', than okay," Tony answered with a cheeky grin painted on his face.

Regina straightened and started to advance on the smug man, trying to intimidate him. It didn't work well on Tony: maybe the height difference played its role (even in her favorite high-heeled louboutins, Regina still was a couple of inches shorter than Tony), maybe he was just stupidly brave, but he didn't waver under her glare and only kept grinning.

"You..." Regina was interrupted by a happy young voice.

"Tony!" Henry rushed to his dad and embraced him by the legs. "You are here!"

"Whoa... Kid, I'm happy to see you too," Tony put a hand on Henry's shoulder and squeezed it.

"Henry, what are you doing here?" asked Regina in the sternest voice imaginable. This scene between father and son made her yearn for the same for herself. She wanted to be on receiving end of such an affection from her son, she deserved it. "I told you to stay in the car."

But Henry just ignored her, seemingly remembering something important. He stopped hugging Tony and shouted. "Let's go, Tony. We couldn't waste a second," Henry grabbed blond's hand and tried to drag him somewhere. Tony didn't budge. "I'll explain everything later. We have to help Ashley and her baby. Why aren't you moving?"

"Slow down, kid," Tony tugged Henry by the hand and crouched to boy's eye-level.

"But, Tony, she..." Henry resisted.

"Firstly, calm down, okay?" Tony reassuringly looked him in the eyes and the boy stopped trying to pull away. "That's better. Secondly, don't ignore your mother. Now apologize."

Henry glanced at his mother. He was so excited to see Tony that he didn't pay her any attention, even though she tried to help him, when no one could. He felt a burst of guilt.

"Sorry, mom," his voice and eyes were full of sincerity and when he reached with his free hand to clasp hers, Regina's eyes welled with tears and she was rendered speechless. What could she say, lately her boy didn't shower her with much affection.

"And at last, your mum and I talked to Mr. Gold and came... to agreement. Ashley and her child are absolutely safe," Tony turned his gaze to Regina and subtly winked, then looked back at Henry. There was a bright smile on the boy's face and he was looking at adults with admiration.

"Really? That's great! We have to tell her!" Henry tried to tug them to the maternity ward, but Tony stopped him. Again.

"Not so fast. She is still giving birth. Trust me, you don't want to see that, kiddo," Tony straightened up, grabbed the boy and threw him over the shoulder. A loud boyish shriek followed without any delay. "And now you are going home. I'm sure it was a long day for a little boy like you."

"I'm not little. I'm already ten!" proudly proclaimed Henry. As if he wasn't swinging from his father's shoulder right about now.

"As you say, shorty, as you say," laughed Tony and headed to the elevator.

When the doors opened, blond noticed that one person was left behind. He turned around and met a disapproving look of the Mayor. But there was something else in her eyes. Tony couldn't decipher what it was. Maybe curiosity. Regardless, he smiled at her and could have sworn that the corners of her lips for a second twitched upwards.

"Are you coming, Madam Mayor? Or should I drive Henry home myself. I must admit, you have a nice car..."

As Tony watched black Benz drive away, he was genuinely happy. He had a hand in the mending of the relationship between mother and son. He acquired some new information on magic of this town. He helped a girl keep her child.

He only hoped that Ashley was really ready to take on the parenthood. After all, at her age, he wasn't...

* * *

**10 years ago, Boston**

A young lanky boy, no older than 18, was sitting in the waiting room of a local adoption agency with a bundle in his hands.

The boy didn't want to give him up. He desperately wanted to keep the child, to give him everything he could ever wish for, but he couldn't. He had no job, no place to stay, no one to turn to for help. This child deserved more than a pathetic teen-father, he deserved only the best.

At this moment, the child opened his eyes and as if feeling what's about to happen, started wailing.

"Shh... Little one..." the blond boy jumped from his sit and started pacing, trying to calm down the child. "Shh... I'm really sorry, I don't want to do this, but I have to... to give you your best chance. Sadly, it's not with me," boy's eyes were shining with tears, but he refused to let them fall, refused to show any weakness.

The wailing stopped as abruptly as it started. Now the child was just gurgling and looking at the blond with his wide dark eyes.

'Just like hers,' a thought appeared in the boy's mind. 'If only she hadn't left.'

They could have tried to be a family, their child could have stayed with them. But she left... Left with only a note on a nightstand in a hotel room, explaining that she was no mother material, that everything between them was a mistake. Left when they were so close to their Tallahassee. Left him with no choice, but to give up their child.

"Mr. Swan, you may come in," a kind-looking older man opened the door to the office, inviting the boy in.

"Ah, yes, yes. Give me o-one more moment," the blond stuttered and then turned his attention back to his son and started whispering, cradling him to the chest. "Your new life with some good family is right behind this door, little one. You won't remember me, but I will always remember you, think about you. Just... be happy... I-I love you, my son."

The blond kissed the child on his forehead and with a last glance at the tiny bundle in his hands entered the office.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

A few weeks went by without any incidents. Tony's life developed a certain route and everything was normal. Well, as normal as it could be in Storybrooke.

The blond took on the role of a Deputy Sheriff with ease. Even though at first Madam Mayor was more than dissatisfied with his appointment, in time she had no choice, but to accept that he was "not so bad" at it.

Responsibilities of the Deputy were a walk in the park on a sunny day, in comparison to the workload Tony had as a detective in a homicide department of the 12th precinct in NY a couple of years ago. Here he just had to patrol the streets around the town, stop a couple of fights between local drunkards, find some missing pets and so on, and so forth.

Mostly, Tony worked the night shifts, so the best part of his days was free for him to wander around town, mingle with townspeople, spend time with Henry and bicker with Madam Mayor. A coupe of times he met with Mary Margaret over a cup of coffee. She was nice to talk to, except for times, when she started singing praises to David Nolan. David this, David that. For god's sake, woman, he's married and Tony really didn't know what David was thinking, leading this sweet woman on.

All in all, life was good until...

Tony entered his apartment after a night shift, threw his keys on a nightstand and his body on a bad and was already half-asleep, when an earthquake and a loud booming noise woke him up. He groaned, all sleep was gone from his mind for good.

"Whoa, someone has a really bad-ass alarm," Tony chuckled at his own joke. He was ready to roll over and try to get back to sleep, but a phone call cut all his efforts short.

"Yes?"

"Swan, there was an accident in the mines," Graham's voice was heard on the other line. "I need your help. Meet me by the south entrance to the mines as soon as possible." Without waiting for an answer Gram disconnected.

"Okay," said Tony and only beeping met him on the other side.

* * *

All day went by in a whirlwind of activities. The Sheriff's office had to surround the area of an accident, keep the populace from panicking and address all the damage made by the earthquake. No one was hurt, except for one poor guy named Hugo Dumpton. He was sitting on a high stone wall, surrounding his house, and wasn't able to prevent the fall, when the earthquake hit. Lucky for him, he lived not far from the hospital, so all the hospital staff quickly took care of him.

Graham said that if nothing else happened, Tony was free to go after the lunch break. So here he was, in the office with a cup of coffee, battling with a sandman, when sobbing Henry rushed into the room.

In a matter of seconds, Tony was on his knees on the floor in front of the boy, all the sleepiness gone. Again.

Henry told everything that happened with Dr. Hopper and just kept weeping, so Tony tightly embraced and let the boy cry it out on his father's shoulder.

When Henry calmed down, Tony walked him to his mother's office and decided to pay Dr. Hopper a visit. A protective daddy mode on.

"Okay, Dr. Hopper, tell me, why my kid came running to me in tears after a session with you?" Tony entered the shrink's office without knocking, eyes blazing with righteous anger. "Why did you say all this hurtful things to him?"

Archie clearly didn't expect any visitors. He was sitting on a sofa with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand.

"When therapy is not working, we had to..." Tony didn't let him finish.

"Fuck the therapy. These tails keep Henry happy, give him hope, even if his fantasy leads him to believe his mother to be an Evil Queen, but just ripping all this apart is plainly cruel. We must show him that his mother loves him, sometimes loves him too much, without destroying his world," ranted Tony, not letting Archie utter a word. "So why did you do precisely that, Archie?"

"I do not need to defend my professional decisions to you, okay?" Archie stood up from the sofa to be on the same eye-level with Tony.

"Not okay, if my child is crying," Tony ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Maybe, I don't have a degree in psychology, but the plain common sense tells me..."

A phone call interrupted them. 'Why does it always happen to me? Calls cutting short my conversations.'

Caller's id read "Mayor SnarkyPants". Tony groaned. 'Gods, not now.'

"I have to take this. It's Madam Mayor," he said to Archie and rolled his eyes. "You know her."

"Yes, of course."

"Madam Mayor, I'm all ears." Tony just had no more patience to deal with anyone.

"Is he with you?"

"You need to be more concrete, Madam Mayor, who is this he? My sleep deprived brain really doesn't want to cooperate," smirked Tony.

"Doesn't it always?" jabbed Regina. "Is Henry with you?"

"No. I dropped Henry at your office half an hour ago," Tony instantly got serious. He really didn't want to imagine what a devastated 10-year old boy could get himself into.

"Well, he's not here..."

"I don't know where he is," Tony watcher as Archie's face changed, his eyes widening in realization. "Hold on a second, Madam Mayor," Tony disconnected and fixed his gaze on Dr. Hopper. "What do you know?"

As a word 'mines' left Archie's mouth, shiver ran down Tony's spine. They ran out of the building and in record time they were at the entrance to the mines.

There was no sign of Henry there. 'Maybe we are not too late.' Thought Tony, but then Pongo found a chocolate bar that belonged to Henry by the entrance.

"Okay, I'm calling for backup. We'll need to go in and find Henry," Tony took out his phone and dialed Gram's number. "Step away from there, Archie, in case..."

The earth started to shake again. The entrance started collapsing and there was no time to do anything, so Archie marched inside. 'At least, if the entrance crumbles completely, Henry won't be alone there.'

Tony watched everything unfold, but couldn't do a thing. After Archie ran into, this entrance to the mines ceased to exist.

As the earth stopped shaking, Tony called an emergency meeting.

Now they were standing not far from the collapsed entrance, trying to come up with the best way to deal with the situation.

"We'll just have to summon more volunteers and clear the entrance stone by stone," proposed Gram.

"It'll be too long. There's my son in there!" Regina was going insane with worry. "We have to punch through the blockage, use something effective."

"Explosives. Let's use explosives," suggested Marco. Everyone looked at him as if considering this idea. Everyone, but Tony.

Until this moment he was absorbed by his own thought, but using explosives was ridiculous. "Over my dead body," his voice was sharp and gave no space for any objections. "You want to bury them inside. If the explosion damages something important, everything inside could collapse. We can't risk it," then he turned to Regina, who was standing next to him. "Are there any blueprints of the mines, Madam Mayor?"

"Yes," nodded Regina. "They are in my office. I'll send my assistant for them." She instantly took out her phone.

When blueprints were there, they put them on a folding table and bent over them.

"Okay, there are two other entrances. We'll have to go into and search for Henry and Archie," Tony started pointing something on the plan. "Gram'll go there, and I'll enter there. Marco, you'll watch over the clearing of this entrance, maybe it'll be faster than we all thought. Okay, then get to work," Marco nodded and walked to the volunteers and Gram went to get ready. "Madam Mayor, you'll..." but he was interrupted.

"I'm going in too," her voice was full of stubbornness.

Tony turned to look straight at her. "No way."

Regina's eyes were blazing with determination. "I'm going too. He's my son."

Tony stepped closer to the woman and made sure no one could hear their conversation. "Regina," it was the first time he ever uttered her name. Before that Tony only referred to her as Madam Mayor or Mayor Mills. A subconscious voice inside Regina's head said that she really liked how her name sounded coming from his lips. Regina quickly shook this thought away. Now was not the time to ponder such trivial things.

Tony put a hand on her biceps and squeezed it a little, as if trying to get through to her. "He's my son too," his voice was low and deep, calming and assuring. "We'll find him, I promise, but we'll need someone to supervise over everything that's happening," his gaze was so sincere, she had a hard time returning it, but she didn't back down. "There's no better person for this job than you."

Regina only stepped closer to him, so they were practically breathing the same air. "No, I'm coming. Henry's down there, practically alone. I just can't sit still and do nothing."

Tony could see, there was no use arguing with this stubborn woman when she was in such a mood. She won't back down and they'll only waste the precious time.

"Okay," he sighed and nodded. "But you'll go with me, deal?"

"Deal," Regina nodded too.

Their talk was over, but they didn't move. They just couldn't step back, couldn't stop staring at each other, like they were hypnotized. They could feel the warm breath on each other's lips, only a couple centimeters separating them.

"Tony."

The trance was broken and they jumped apart. Tony turned around to see, who called him and was tightly embraced.

"I heard what happened and wanted to help," the brunette's arms were wrapped around Tony's neck, and when he realized who it was, the blond answered to the embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing her closer. "How are you holding up, Tony?" she whispered.

"I'm... well, Rubes," he pulled away, but still had his hands on the brunette's waist. "Just worried about Henry."

After the car accident Tony and Ruby quickly became friends: she liked to listen about the world and life beyond the town line and he liked her easy-going flirty manners and sharp wit.

"I have to go get ready. We'll be going into the mines from the other entrances to find Henry and Archie," Tony said and pulled away completely.

"Let me go with you. I'll help, I promise," Ruby put her adorable puppy dog face on. She really wanted to be useful.

"No, Ruby. Eugenia will never forgive me, if I put you in harm's way," chuckled Tony. He was really fond of the Lucas family.

"Oh, you just worried for your lifetime free stock of bear claws, fatty," Ruby pinched his side and laughed.

"Hey, I'm no fatty. I'm working out every day, for your information," Tony swatted her arm away and chuckled as well. "But seriously, Ruby, no," she started to pout and was ready to complain, but he raised his index finger in warning. "However, we'll need someone to coordinate us from the outside."

It was not much, but still something, so Ruby agreed.

"Okay, let's go. I'll give you all the blueprints and a walkie," he pointed to the police car.

Before they walked away Tony turned to Regina, who was looking at something on the plans. "Madam Mayor, meet you at the east entrance in 10, okay?" She just nodded, not looking away from the table. "Take something warm with you. I think, it'll be cold down there."

Tony threw one last lopsided smile at Regina and went after Ruby to the car.

During the conversation between Tony and Ruby, Regina just stood close by, pretending to look over the blueprints and silently listened to them. She didn't know that they were so close. She never paid much attention to the cursed townspeople, when it didn't concern Henry, but interaction between this two made something stir and roar at the pit of her stomach and Regina really didn't like this feeling.

* * *

Tony and Regina walked trough the mines for at least 15 minutes in absolute silence. It was so unlike them, because usually when they were in the presence of each other, there was no shutting them up.

Finally, Tony couldn't take it anymore.

"When will this underground corridors end?" he sighed tiredly and directed his flashlight forward.

"Are you always this grumpy, or it's just for me?" sassed Regina. She was not in the mood to talk. Especially, not with Tony.

"Only for you, always for you," Tony chuckled. He wanted to add something more, but the walkie came alive and Ruby's voice started talking.

"Anthony. Mayor Mills. Guys. Can you hear me?"

Tony pulled the walkie out of his back pocket and answered. "Yes, Ruby. What is it?"

"Henry and Archie got out. They found an old elevator and managed to make it work. They are safe now," Tony glanced at Regina. Relief written all over their faces.

Regina grabbed the walkie from Tony's hands and started talking. "Ms. Lucas, how is Henry? Is he hurt? Give him the walkie."

'He's fine, Madam Mayor. He's tired and has fallen asleep, I don't want to wake him up." Regina just sighed and gave the walkie back to Tony.

"Okay, Rubes. We'll soon be up there, thanks for the information," Tony smiled. He was happy that the kid was fine and safe. Now they just had to get out and he'll finally be able to sleep. Finally.

They were close to the exit, when Tony felt another shake, this one not as strong as the other ones, but in time it started to escalate. The layers of the earth over them started to crumble piece by little piece. Regina was walking ahead of him and seemed not to notice anything. She was so determined to get out of the mines and see her son as fast as she could, that she didn't pay any attention to her surroundings.

If Tony's estimations were right, they won't be able to make it outside, even if they started to run. So they needed to find cover. Luckily, there was a not so big cavity in the wall on their right.

"Regina!" shouted Tony. She turned to him with questioning eyes, but didn't have a chance to say anything.

Tony grabbed her and pushed to the cavity. He had only a couple of seconds to pull Regina down and cover her with his body, before the ceiling of the tunnel collapsed.

* * *

When the dust settled, Regina came to understand a couple of things and none of them promised anything good.

They were buried in a cramped closed space with only enough room to situate their bodies. The light, coming in between boulders, was for the lack of better word scarce

There was a heavy body pressing her to the cold ground. It seemed, Tony hit his head on something and lost consciousness, when he pulled Regina to the ground.

His head was on the floor next to Regina's shoulder. The woman deduced that one of his hands was under her head, 'cause she felt something warm and smooth on the back of it. It appeared, Tony had enough sense to protect Regina's head from the hard fall in seconds they had, before everything collapsed, but the woman chose to ignore this gesture.

"Mr. Swan," she hissed on his ear. "Wake up and get off me," when it didn't seem to work, she slapped the side of his body with her right hand. She really didn't want to die in a position like this.

"Swan, wake up!" now she put her hands on the sides of Tony's rib cage and tried to push him off of herself, but he was too heavy and big for her to succeed.

However, her efforts were rewarded with a groan. Tony started regaining consciousness.

"Ah, where am I?" he raised his head and looked at the woman under him. "Regina?" he coughed.

"Welcome back to the wold of the living, Mr. Swan. Now get off of me," Regina tried to push him off again, but a shout of pain stopped her.

"Aaa! Don't!" Tony cried out and put his head back on the ground, trying to regain his breathing and get rid of the pain. "My hand..." he panted. "It's... It's stuck..."

A shiver ran down Regina's body. Even though she really didn't like Tony, she wouldn't wish such a fate on anyone, because if he was telling the truth, it would take a miracle to save his arm. Regina turned her head to the right to see the damage.

Tony's arm, from the forearm down, was really stuck under the boulder. Blood was soaking the ground. Regina didn't know how can he still be so calm and collected. Anyone in his place would already be in tears and shouting in agony.

A sharp gasp took her out of her reflections. Regina glanced at the man over her. He lifted his head up again and was looking straight at her.

"Need to tell someone, where we are," Tony tried to raise his body a bit and shift his weight from the Mayor, but every move bothered his arm, so he reconsidered. "Ah, the walkie is in my back pocket. Take it."

Without another word Regina traced her hands down his body and put them into his back pockets, fishing for the walkie.

Tony squirmed a little and chuckled. "I clearly don't mind, Madam Mayor, but it's not a time to cop a feel."

Regina just sent him a stink eye and pulled out the walkie. "Shut up, Swan."

She tried to contact someone, anyone, but it was futile. The walkie wasn't working. They were stuck in this hellhole and no one knew that.

"This shit isn't working!" Regina threw the small device and heard a small laugh. "What is so funny, Mr. Swan?"

"I've never heard you swear before," somehow he found it really funny: this regal refined woman swearing. It seriously amused him. Or maybe it was the blood loss playing its part.

Tony looked around them and noticed that there was a tiny passage between the wall and the blockage. There were still some rocks in the way, but they weren't big and would be pretty easy to remove. Though, he wouldn't have been able to get through, even if his hand was free, but Regina...

"Look up," Tony pointed with his head. "There's a tiny passage up there. You may be able to slip through."

Regina noticed it now. It was her chance to break free, but some part of her really didn't want to live Tony alone. She looked back at him and read an encouragement in his eyes. She nodded. "It seems so..."

"Okay," he sighed and got ready. "I'll brace myself on my good arm and knees, you turn around and crawl there. Be careful, okay?" He didn't let her answer, leaned on his right arm and lifted his body a bit to give the woman space to turn around.

Regina could see how his face contorted in pain, but no sound left his mouth. She could also see that he won't be able to hold himself up for long, so she started to move. She turned around so her back was pressed to Tony's front, she could almost feel how a shiver ran over his body, then she crawled forward and moved some of the rocks, laying in her way to freedom, away. When the passage was clean, Regina threw the last look at Tony.

"Hey, I hope, you'll come with the backup and get me out of here too, Madam Mayor," Tony wanted to grin, but it looked more like a grimace.

Regina just nodded and slipped out.

When Tony couldn't see or hear Regina anymore, he lowered his body on the right side and with his right hand pulled a necklace with some beads on it from under the T-shirt.

After his run in with Mr. Gold, Tony decided to start experimenting with magic of this place. He found out that, even though people couldn't use magic as it is, they could use artifacts and enchanted objects made beyond the town line. Tony always liked delving in Runic Magic, so he made some trinkets for himself, in case an emergency stucked. Oh, how lucky he was to do so.

Tony frantically fingered the wooden beads with runes carved into them, looking for a particular one. The one with the portal.

He had not so much time before the backup would come to this blockage.

'Okay. The healing rune. The barrier rune. The transformation rune. The healing rune again. The heating rune. Aha... Here it is, the portal.'

Tony squeezed the bead with two fingers, closed his eyes and imagined the grass in front of the entrance to the mines and himself on it. He could have gone anywhere, but it would raise some unwanted questions. In a second, he disappeared.

Outside, Tony leaned back on the ground, cradling his damaged hand. He examined his left digit: his hand had only a couple of scratches on it (it must have been situated in some kind of gap between boulders and wasn't affected), though, the flesh and bones of the forearm were smashed into something indescribable, blood was everywhere, but there was nothing magic couldn't fix. However, there was one problem: Regina saw his damaged hand and if he healed it now, it would raise too much suspicion and Tony really didn't need it. So he prayed that paramedics would come as soon as possible before he blacked out completely 'cause of the blood loss.

The blond was just lying there on the frosty autumn ground, trying to ignore the throbbing pain and enjoying the beauty of the sky and the birds cutting through its air, so graceful, so free.

He was so engrossed in his musings that he didn't notice people rushing to him. Only when another beauty blocked the sight of the sky, Tony spotted them. He fixed his gaze on this mesmerizing and, dare he say, worried russet eyes.

"Hey," Tony gave her his signature lopsided smile, but then grimaced. A paramedic took his left hand to examine it.

"How did you get out?" demanded Regina, subconsciously trying to keep him from blacking out.

"Magic," Tony joked, at least, Regina thought so, and passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, tell me of any mistakes, you see, so I can correct them.
> 
> Did anyone notice a small reference to the other ABC show?
> 
> Also there is a not so subtle reference to one fictional character, so... find it, if you can ;)
> 
> Hope, you enjoyed this update
> 
> Elia

**Author's Note:**

> Please, tell me of any mistakes you see so I can correct them.


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